“I know you would think [this is] natural for me to say,” Irsay said. “But the more I think about it, the more I thought, ‘Jim, how come you were so stupid? How could you not have seen the clarity of this sooner?’”

Ballard, meanwhile, couldn’t believe how natural a fit Reich was immediately after sitting down with the former Philadelphia Eagles offensive coordinator for an interview last Friday.

“I’ve thought a lot about that, too,” Ballard said Tuesday. “I thought about it after I got done interviewing him. I go, ‘My Lord, what was I thinking?'”

Reich was among the Colts’ original list of candidates to replace Chuck Pagano but did not land on the list of names who the team intended to interview.

A relatively low-key Reich didn’t have much to say during his introductory presser about the convoluted manner through which he landed an NFL head coaching gig.

“When the announcement came off that (McDaniels) was not taking the job, I did not call my agent, I did not text my agent, I did not say how are we going to get an interview?” Reich said. “Our work speaks for itself. (I said,) ‘I hope they call us. I really do. If not, we’re just going to get back to work.’”

Irsay, meanwhile, could not be happier with how the head coaching situation ultimately played out, despite the chaotic manner in which the team arrived at hiring Reich.